A new species of Filispirifer (Brachiopoda: Delthyridoidea) from the Dra Valley, Morocco (Lower Devonian)

A new species of Filispirifer is described from the Lower Devonian Assa Formation of the Dra Valley (Morocco). Filispirifer hamadae n. sp. differs from the other taxa of Filispirifer in having a smaller shell, fewer costae, a lower ventral interarea, a smaller ventral process, and a less conspicuous dorsal adductor field. Due to their micro- ornamentation, the capillate Rhenish delthyridoid genera, Filispirifer and Mauispirifer, are excluded from the fimbriate family Acrospiriferidae and put together in the new family Filispiriferidae. The evolutionary lineage of Filispirifer and its palae-obiogeographic occurrence are briefly described.